A Special Friend
by Lamia Mortis
Summary: Shizuo isn't a normal 5th grader, so when he gets a chance to be 'normal' to at least one person, he takes it.
1. Normal

__**Hello everyone! I've tried writing some fanfictions before, but they always seemed to come out wrong.**

**Well, this is my first year in an Anglophone school and I think it improved my writing.**

**So I'm giving it another shot. Please note that this is an AU where Izaya and Shizuo are kids in 5th grade.**

**AND NO, THERE IS NO SHOTA. x'D**

**Also, if you could check out my story Memories Never Die and review it that would be very helpful. I really want a beta to go over what I wrote in that fic and help me improve it so I can continue it. I must warn you though, the first chapter is VERY cheesy! -hides-**

**That said, please, sit back, relax, and give my fanfic a chance? :")**_  
_

**DISCLAIMER: DURARARA AND IT'S CHARACTERS DO NOT BELONG TO ME.**

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_Tick…_

_Tick…_

_Tick…_

Shizuo stared dully at the clock. How long had it been? Five, ten minutes? The young brunet let out a long moan in annoyance. He had been stuck in this grey building for 5 years now and had come to a few conclusions.

One: School was lame.

Two: School was boring.

Three: Fuck school.

Oh, and four: This damned clock wasn't damned fast enough!

Shizuo groaned in his seat, resting his head in his hands. This week was just too uneventful. Literally NOTHING was happening! The young brunet felt his eyelids grow heavy, and just when he felt he was about to fall asleep, a bell rung loudly, declaring it next period. Well damn. Or course the clock would get off its lazy ass and move the second he took his eyes off of it.

"Students, put away your math duo-tangs and take out your English notebooks. Today, we are starting a special activity."

Several of Shizuo's classmates whispered to each other excitedly, attempting to guess what this activity may be. Shizuo, on the other hand, had managed to keep his disinterested exterior. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn't the least bit intrigued, because he was… Just not enough to show it.

The teacher raised her hand and the class settled down, having enough respect not to talk over their superior.

"This period, we are each going to be writing a note for a potential penpal," the teacher began, smiling as several students' faces lit up in glee, "All you need to do is write a bit about yourself and leave a question at the ending of your letter for the other student to answer. I will take care of the rest."

Some kids nodded their head in acknowledgement, while others, namely Shizuo, huffed through their teeth, malcontent and disappointed. The young brunet had to admit that was pretty anti-climatic. He was so busy brooding he barely recognized his teacher's voice as she declared she would be handing out neat papers for them to write their finished products on. When she handed Shizuo his paper, she placed a gentle hand on his shoulder and spoke soothingly, quietly so only he could hear.

"Shizuo, I know you get easily discouraged and frustrated, but please give this a try. Who knows, you might make a special friend."

With that, she removed her hand and continued handing out sheets as if her little pep-talk had never happened.

Shizuo took a deep and shaky breath. He didn't want to disappoint his teacher, he really didn't. She was the only person in this cursed school who didn't once put him down for not trying in class or getting low marks, but she just couldn't understand! She didn't know what it was like to have this… This strength, even if she was an adult! Or rather, this weakness. That was right… His crazy physical strength was nothing but his biggest flaw at the end of the day. Some kids would do anything to be different, to be a superman who could always come and save the day. But Shizuo knew reality wasn't like that. People were only human, and no matter what they wanted to believe, nobody could completely control their emotions. Shizuo had hurt people with his body. He didn't care about his own battle scars, because no matter how much he hurt himself, he only felt true pain when he hurt someone else. Whenever the child looked in a mirror, he saw a monster not unlike the ones other kids saw hiding in their closets. A ruthless, heartless monster that crushed everything he longed to cradle. He hurt people, so it was better not to get attached, to isolate and ignore. That was the young boy's outlook on life, and the very reason why he wasn't keen on writing to a penpal or meeting a 'special' friend. It wasn't out of arrogance that he disobeyed his teacher; it was out of fear.

Fear and shame.

Shizuo was ashamed of his strength, so sorry for what he had done to others that he couldn't bare to use his strength for good. He couldn't bare to use it consciously at all. He just wanted to hide it.

He just wanted to be normal.

But now that he thought about it, if he had a penpal, maybe he could be normal for once. He wouldn't need to worry about his strength hurting someone if he only knew that person through letters. Shizuo felt a spark of hope illuminate his mind and heart, fluttering in his chest. This person, whoever it was, wouldn't be able to see his destructive abilities or judge him. This person wouldn't need to be afraid of Shizuo or misunderstand him, this person could give him a taste of normalcy.

Filled with what could only be described as a temporary gush of inspiration, Shizuo began diligently writing his letter.

_Deer Penpal,_

_My name is Shizuo Heiwajima. I have browne hare and browne eyes and wone litle brother. I like milk, allso the strawberie kind. And also sweets. I thot maibe we culd be frends. Do you like milk?_

_Shizuo._

Looking at his finished letter, the brunet had to admit it wasn't what he was hoping for. Dammit, why did putting thoughts into words have to be so hard! He was about to crumple his failure and restart when the clock struck 11:30 and the lunch bell rang.

Really… screw you, clock.

The teacher politely asked everyone to put his or her letter on her desk. Shizuo buried his face in his hands. He wasn't ready, damn it! He needed more time!

After everyone save the melancholy brunet had neatly placed their letters in the appointed area, the teacher intervened.

"Shizuo, class is over. You need to hand in your paper."

"Dun' wanna," the child stubbornly mumbled.

"And why is that, Shizuo?" she asked, slightly irritated.

"'Cause it sucks." Shizuo rolled his eyes dismissively as several students snickered at his bold response.

"Don't speak of yourself that way, Shizuo, Now hand in the paper." Begrudgingly, the brunet got up from his place and stomped to the teacher's desk, all but shoving his work onto the top of the pile.

"Shizuo."

Said boy huffed and rolled his eyes once more.

"_WHAT?_" he snapped.

"Thank you," she said, assuring she made a point, as she remained calm despite Shizuo's disruptive behaviour. "You are all dismissed, have a good lunch."

Caught off guard by the polite and kind words, and feeling bad for his rudeness, Shizuo did his best to conceal his blush as he grabbed his belongings and rushed out of class.

"How was your day?" Shizuo's mom asked as per usual at the dinner table.

Shizuo stared at his plate, disinterested in his food as he moved it around with his chopsticks.

"It was okay, I guess…" he drawled.

"Only okay?"

This time, the brunet merely grunted in response. His mother sighed.

"Shizuo, sweetie, you need to tell me what's wrong or else I can't help. I don't understand what your huffing and puffing means."

"Nothing's wrong!" the young boy yelled, suddenly agitated,

"Something obviously I if you're talking like that."

"I'm not talking like anything!"

"Shizuo," his mother warned stiffly. Shizuo just glared and an exasperated sigh left her lips.

"I don't have time for this. If you're going to act this way, go to your room."

Shizuo angrily muttered and did just that, slamming his door to antagonize his mother.

Dammit!

Dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMN IT!

He didn't want this to happen! He wanted to tell her about the penpal project, but then… Shit! Why couldn't things ever work out the way he wanted them to! He wasn't trying to give his mother attitude, he just didn't know what to say! Shizuo teared up and covered his face in his hands.

Damn it!

Damn it…

It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Shizuo turned into a doleful mess as he threw himself onto his bed and buried himself under the covers, hoping that they would hide him from the rest of the world, even if only temporarily.

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**Yay, one chapter down! Hope you enjoyed~**

**-coughAND-I-HOPE-MY-SHIZUO-IS-A-GOOD-MIX-OF-FUCKING-ADORABLE-AND-SERIOUScough-**

**I also hope he isn't too OOC for, well, a kid.**

**I feel like I'm connecting all the charries in this fic to people I know IKR, including myself w **

**Now, reviews are LOVED!**

**And if I get 10 of them, I'm pretty sure I will be able to update again before Monday~!**

**I'm not begging, just saying next chapter might have a little wait without review ;")**


	2. The Reply

**Okay, so.. Did I mention before now that three reviews is enough to make my self-esteem fly through the roof as my heart flutters within my chest like a butterfly? No? Oh. Well, now you all know. **

**One thing I CAN say however is that I'm the type of person who, if I get less reviews on the second chapter than the first, I get really demotivated.**

**Just saying x'D**

**I love all readers, and I feel like this story is going to start slowly, and I know it's really different than most of the Shizaya fics, but thank you to everyone who's giving it a shot. -hearts-**

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"Oi, Shinra! When are we going to even get our penpal letters back anyways?"

Said four-eyed child peered up at his brunet friend from the book he was reading on Irish Folklore.

"I thought you didn't like the penpal project, Shizuo," he stated snottily.

"I didn't mean it!"

"Suuuure, you didn't." Shinra said, sticking out his tongue.

"Shinraaaaaaaaaa," Shizuo drawled, quickly becoming irate and giving his friend a warning you're-pissing-me-off glare.

"Alright, alright! Don't throw a fridge at me!" the future doctor threw his hands in the air innocently.

"So?" Shizuo expectantly asked once more, brushing off the comment about the fridge.

Shinra huffed. "I don't know, Shizuo! It shouldn't take longer than a week, but it's only been two days!"

"It only took me a few minutes to write my letter, why should it take them any longer!"

Shinra facepalmed, doing his best to ignore the smudges in his vision the action produced. "Shizuo, it's not the writing that takes long, it's the fact that the teacher needs to find time to fit writing a letter into their class schedule, and then more time to give it to the other teacher, and the-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! Sheesh, stop your blabbering."

"You're the one who asked, Shizuo!" the four-eyed boy pouted.

"I didn't ask you to recite a paragraph, Shinra! I just want to know when I'm going to get a letter from my penpal!"

"Why are you so eager, hmmm Shizuo? Do you think you're going to meet a cute girl?"

Shizuo's face flushed. "No, of course not!"

Shinra grinned evilly. "I think that was what you were hoping for, eh Shizuo?"

"No it wasn't!" Shizuo yelled in a mixture of embarrassment and anger.

"Oh, so then you were hoping to meet a cute boy?" The little four-eyes wiggled his eyebrows.

Shizuo turned beat red, absolutely seething. "Shut up, Shinra!"

Shinra laughed. "Too bad no boy or girl in the whole universe is as beautiful or wonderful as Celty! She's the most fantastical, alluring…."

Shizuo huffed and covered his ears as his annoying chatterbox friend went into a rant about his creepy tadpole fantasies.

…

Izaya smiled somewhat cockily as his teacher announced they had finally received their penpal letters. Now, he didn't want to brag, but he had quite a talent at writing for his age and was eager to impress whomever he would be conversing with. He received his letter and read it without any trouble at all. It was boring, to say the least. Well, what could you expect from a girl who wrote in a pink pen and put little hearts on all of her i's? He leaned over towards his friend Kadota to see if the letter he had received was more promising.

"Psssst, Dotachin, what did you get?"

"A letter," the brunet replied curtly.

Izaya rolled his eyes to the back of his head. "Well I _know_ that, Dotachin, but from whom? Are they interesting? Let me see!"

"We aren't allowed to trade letters, Izaya!" he exclaimed, holding his letter out of the devious raven's reach.

Izaya pouted. "Pleaaase, the girl who wrote the letter I got is so boring! All she talks about is her puppy-dog and other annoyingly normal things! I need some adventure in my life, Dotachin!"

"You're only ten."

"Age is only a number!"

Kadota sighed, giving in. "Fine, here, just take my letter," he said, handing it to his friend.

Izaya's eyes twinkled mirthfully. "Thank you Dotachin, I owe you one!" he exclaimed, hastily exchanging his original letter for the new one.

His smile, however, dropped as he examined his new letter, if that's what it could be called. What was this piece of trash! Seriously, this guy wrote one wrong! ONE! Was his penpal in kindergarten or something? This was just unacceptable; he couldn't read something like this every week! It would lower his IQ!

"Oi, Dotachin, I want my letter back!"

"Too late, already started writing my reply."

"But Dotachinnnnnnn~" Izaya whined.

This time, the brunet wasn't even courteous enough to react to Izaya's childish begging and pleading. Begrudgingly, Izaya decided he might as well write back to this kid and hope he learnt how to write properly under his influence.

_Dear Shizuo-san,_

_I am Izaya Orihara, pleasure to be your penpal! It is nice to know you have a little brother, I'm a only child and I think that siblings are annoying. I have black hair and red eyes and I think strawberry milk is gross and to sweet, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. Being penpals with you would be more fun if you learnt to write properly, tho. I like reading, playing chess and people-watching. It sounds creepy but it's actually really neat. Do you like to play chess, Shizuo-san? If so, do you ever win?_

_Sincerely, Izaya._

Looking over his letter, he decided that he was fairly proud of it. Sure, he didn't have much to say, but that was only because his penpal didn't give him many opportunities. He snickered at his last comment about playing chess, mostly because he was certain his penpal had no clue how to play the game in the first place, if he even knew what it was.

Kicking his feet under his desk, the child smoothly raised his hand to let his teacher know he was finished writing (first in the class, as usual). She came over to him and took his paper, praising the over achiever for his lovely piece of work. Izaya smiled.

The rest of the school day went by rather quickly, and before he knew it, Izaya was sitting at the dinner table with his parents. His mother handed him a glass of water alongside a series of pills. He wordlessly downed them, just as he did every night before digging in to his dumplings.

"So, did you get the penpal letter today, son?" his father queried.

"Yeah," Izaya said looking up from his food, a little uninterested.

"Was it all you expected?" his mother asked.

Izaya huffed. "No, not at all! His writing was horrible, I could barely understand it!"

His mother chuckled, while his father just gave his son a hopeful smile. "Maybe you'll teach him how to write properly then, eh? It's always good to challenge yourself."

"That's exactly what I was thinking in class today, dad!" Izaya exclaimed excitedly.

This time both of his parents laughed.

"Great minds think alike!" His father concluded.

Izaya nodded merrily and finished his supper. Before rushing up to his room, he made sure to utter a quick "Goodnight mom, goodnight dad!" He had gotten a new book from the library earlier that day and just couldn't wait to dig into it!

Meanwhile, his mother and father sat down at the dinner table with rather solemn expressions.

"Do you think we should tell him, Honey?" his mother said almost silently.

"We need to tell him at some point," her husband replied, pulling his beloved into an embrace.

Sadly, Izaya's mother took a deep and decisive breath. "Lets wait until we get the official feedback. Until then he doesn't need to worry his poor little head over anything."

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**Anonymous: Aww, I hate that feeling and I feel really happy that you want another chapter. Thank you so much for the review, it means so, so much to me! I love hearing what people like/think about my writing x'D**


	3. divorce

**Sorry for the late update! I had a lot of homeword to finish after I went to Anime North, but it was AMAZING. Hehe, there was an absolutely adorable Izaya cosplayer sleeping in the grass, and, uh... I took pictures of him, being the creeper I am.**

**And I bought 9 Shizaya doujins, but you had to have an ID to buy the 18+ ones, so I just asked random people to show their ID for me when I didn't have older friends wih me x'DD -shotsohard-**

**Haha, ohgod- Hope I'm not scaring readers away. **

**Anyways, I kind of feel like this chapter goes by too fast, or that too many things are happening on it, so... Review? Please, it would mean a lot to me.**

**OH, and check out my DA! I know it's shameless advertising, but I really need reviews/comments on my writing to keep me going because I'm so insecure about it, but my drawing on the other hand... It's my passion, and nothing can stop me from doing it!**

**It would be really cool if you'd check it out/send me a note on DA :")**

** jaxtheripper (dot) deviantart (dot) com/**

**That said, enjoy! (I hope)**

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Shizuo tried to supress memories of last night from flooding into his head as he was walking to school with his little brother, who had just gotten back from an acting camp with their father. Neither of them was really in a mood for conversation; their parents had gotten into a huge argument last night, and the air was still tense in their household that morning. Shizuo had rushed out of the house as soon as he could, dragging Kasuka with him.

As Shizuo continued down the sidewalk, he found himself walking faster; as if he could outrun the angry yells that still echoed in his head, only to be stopped by a small, yet firm voice.

"Wait."

Shizuo turned around to face his seemingly emotionally stagnant brother, who was quite a ways behind.

"Sorry, Kasuka… You couldn't walk any faster, could you?"

The younger boy shook his head as he finally caught up.

"Smaller legs."

Shizuo mentally hit himself. Smaller legs. Right, he knew that.

The eldest of the two nodded, before continuing on his way to school, walking at a more manageable pace.

"Shizuo?" the younger of the two spoke questionably, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?" The slightly taller boy answered.

"Do you think mom and dad are gonna break up?"

Shizuo froze in his tracks, slightly shaken by his brother's boldness.

"What makes you say that?" Shizuo asked, his mouth dry.

"They fight a lot."

An uncomfortable silence prevailed as the eldest Heiwajima failed to respond.

"They aren't going to break up." Shizuo finally murmured more to himself than to his brother as they approached the school gates. Kasuka nodded wordlessly before heading over to the swing set.

Shizuo, who was slowly becoming frustrated, ran his fingers through his hair. His mom and dad wouldn't break up. He'd known them since he was born and they were just always together, so… So they couldn't break up, right! Kasuka did have a point about the fighting, though. Shizuo furrowed his eyebrows. That can't be right. There needs to be a different explana-

"SHIZUO, SHIZUO!" A frantic boy with glasses and messy hair interrupted his thoughts.

The brunet narrowed his eyes at his dumb friend who was running towards him, with a mob composed of about ten students following him. Shinra just had the most atrocious timing, didn't he?

"Shizuo, help me!" Shinra yelled again.

"What did you do this time" Shizuo asked the fast-approaching Shinra.

"He killed Hammy!" a little girl from the mob accused.

"I was merely trying to dissect him!" Shinra wailed, now running in wide circles around Shizuo to avoid his angry followers.

Shizuo's brow twitched. "You tried to dissect the class pet?" he half-asked, because he really had no doubt that four eyes would do some weird shit like that.

Shinra yelped as one of his classmates caught his ankle and pulled him to the ground. "WAAHHHH, Shizuo! Help meee!"

The school bell rang.

Shizuo shrugged and walked towards the school doors, leaving Shinra behind. He probably deserved it, anyways.

"SHIZUOOOOoooooooo!"

The brunet rushed inside the school building so that he wouldn't need to hear his whining friend anymore.

A few minutes after he took a seat at his desk, most of his other classmates began to enter their homeroom, followed by a rather black and blue Shinra.

"Shizuooo," he whined almost silently.

The brunet didn't respond.

"Shizuooooooo," he tried a little louder.

Still no answer.

"Why didn't you help me, Shizuo?" Shinra attempted once more.

Said child bit his inner cheek. Shinra had better stop right now, or else-

"ShizuooooOOOOOooooOOOOOoOOoo-"

That did it.

Shizuo got up, snapping his pencil in two and letting it drop to the floor before trampling it with his foot.

Shinra gulped, knowing what this meant. "Wait, no, Shizuo, don-"

His pleads had gone unheard as Shizuo growled, grabbed his desk and threw it at the future doctor. The desk made a satisfying crack as it bulldozed Shinra into the wall. Or maybe it was Shinra that made the crack… Oh well.

Adrenaline running out, Shizuo swore under his breath and clutched his now aching arm. He'd no doubt pulled a muscle or something.

"SHIZUO HEIWAJIMA!" his teacher shreaked.

Shit.

She ran over to Shinra, and when she got a weak "I'm okay" from the child, she immediately called the ambulance, scowling Shizuo lightly for what he had done.

Both children were packed into the bellowing mobile and rushed off to the hospital.

Amidst all the sirens and doctor-talk, Shizuo could swear he distinctly heard Shinra mumble "At least we get to skip school". Tch, always the optimist. Maybe Shinra got to skip school, but Shizuo was sure he'd make up for his 'free time' in the hospital by staying after school for detention the next few weeks. Not to mention his parents would be really angry with him for losing his temper again. Wait… Shizuo's eyes widened in horror and realization, staring at the well familiar hospital ceiling.

Maybe… his parents were fighting so much because of him. It made sense, didn't it! They were unhappy with him because he kept getting in trouble and hurting people! Was his strength not only tearing himself apart, but his family as well!

Shizuo clenched his fists into the sheets of the hospital bed.

"Hey," Shinra murmured softly, from his own hospital bed.

Shizuo clenched his fists tighter. Dammit, Shinra, he really didn't want to talk right now!

"You don't need to feel bad for hurting me, Shizuo. You look pretty upset but I'm fine, see?" he smiled half-heartedly, "Just a broken arm, after all."

Shizuo took in a deep breath, letting his negative feelings and thoughts uncoil. Maybe this was why he was friends with the crazy little tadpole. Because even if Shinra was lying, and he was hurt, he cared enough about Shizuo to try and comfort him instead of getting mad like a normal person would… He supposed Shinra maybe, just maybe, understood him a little.

"If the teacher asks us anything when we get back, I'll tell her I put a tack in your shoe. That way we'll each get in trouble."

A smile formed on Shizuo's lips. "I think you're in enough trouble for killing Hammy."

Shinra laughed stupidly.

Strangely enough, it caused Shizuo to laugh too.

The two boys just lay in their hospital beds like that for some time, laughing and laughing at seemingly nothing. When the childish giggles and jokes finally calmed down into a comforting silence, Shizuo found himself feeling better than he had before. A lingering doubt about his parents still mingled in the back of his head, but he pushed it away. He didn't need to worry about that right now, he decided as he drifted asleep.

The next day went better than expected. His parents were a little angry, but they were easier on him than he had predicted. School was fine so far too. Some kids had even praised him for 'slaying the hamster killer', but they signed Shinra's new cast nonetheless. Yeah, the day was definitely going better than planned. Math ended pretty fast (thank god), and all the kids were now preparing for language.

The teacher gave them an unsurprisingly boring assignment. Shizuo took out his pencil to start it but was stopped by his teacher.

"Shizuo, Shinra, I want you each to come back to my desk."

Oh great. Shizuo gulped, supposing that his day was about to go downhill.

The two young boys walked over to the teachers desk, albeit nervously.

"Shizuo," the teacher gave him a glare, "Shinra," she sighed, "What am I going to do with you two?"

"Let us go back to our desks unharmed..?" Shinra mumbled.

"Nice try," she said, "but I had something else in mind."

The two children stayed quiet, waiting to hear what their sensei had to say.

"You two are going to stay after school with me today and help bake a cake which we are going to donate to charity, okay?"

Shizuo smiled, happy that he wasn't going to need to do a super-hard quiz or something. Baking a cake seemed pretty good to him.

Shinra, on the other hand, let his curiosity roam freely. "What kind of charity?"

"You two don't need to know. I'm sure you'll find out soon enough on your own," she said, giving Shizuo a side-glance. "In the meantime, work on your penpal project. We received the first reply yesterday, but you two weren't here. I expect a finished letter from both of you by the end of class."

Shizuo excitedly took his letter, and hurried to his desk to write a response.

Before the young brunet even read the letter, he noticed it was pretty long. As he began reading, he began to feel like his penpal was a show off. Using fancy words, like sibling… What the hell was sibling? On a plus he even had the guts to tell Shizuo his writing sucked! Not to mention that Shizuo most definitely did not play chess! It was too complicated, not really as enjoyable as something like snakes and ladders.

The brunet didn't feel shy about his bad writing, though. If his penpal had a problem with it, then he could deal with that by himself, Shizuo thought as he began to write a response.

_Deer Izaya-kun,_

Shizuo wrote, having full well noticed that it was supposed to be written "dear" from the letter he had received.

_First of all, wats a sibling? Also red eyes are wierd. How is that evin posibel? I dont play chess. But I like carnivels, I cant wate to go to the one next weekend, my mum pramissed she wuld take me and my brother their. Wats your favorite ride at the carnivel?_

_Shizuo._

His letter wasn't as good as his penpal's, but the brunet didn't feel like it sucked anymore. Somehow getting a response from the other kid seemed to reassure him that people weren't going to laugh at his letter or spit on it.

The brunet handed his letter to his teacher and headed out the door with Shinra as the lunch bell rang. The two boys sat in the lunchroom and took out their meals. Now, Shizuo didn't really like to be watched while he ate… Hell, he didn't like being watched at all! Unfortunately for him, Glasses here wouldn't stop staring at him.

"What?" Shizuo said with his mouth half full, giving his friend an annoyed look.

"Want to sign my cast?" Shinra asked in an over-bubbly manner, holding up a sharpie with his good hand.

Shizuo took the marker and began to write something in all caps on Shinra's cast.

_SHINRA IS A POO_

"HEYYYY! SHIZUO THAT'S GOING TO BE ON MY ARM FOR SIX WEEKS!"

Shizuo snickered. "Exactly."

"Wahhh, you're so mean." Shinra stuck out his tongue and grabbed his sharpie.

The young brunet thought he could finally eat his ramen in peace when his loud friend interrupted his eating-time again.

"Soooo, how's your penpal~?"

Shizuo sighed. "They're fine, I guess."

"Only fine, Shizuo? Are you sure they aren't… YOUR TRUE LOOOOOVE?"

Shizuo's eyebrow twitched. "He's a guy!"

Shinra made an over-exaggerated fake gasp. "Shizuo, I never knew you were gay!"

"WHAT! NO, I NEVER SAID THAT!" Shizuo yelled, unable to fight back his blush.

Four eyes laughed. "Hahah, I was only joking!"

"Goo-"

"I always knew you were gay"

Shizuo gave Shinra a glare that could kill.

It was with great difficulty that he stopped himself from hurling the lunch table at his already wounded companion.

* * *

**A/N: Corrected a few stupid spelling mistakes.**

**I swear to god ff messed up my spelling...**


	4. Cake

**-hides- I had writer's block all summer, I'm soweeeee~! But I'll try to write more now ||D **

* * *

Izaya's smile beamed as he admired the ticket he held in his hands. He'd never gone to a carnival before; his mother would always make up an excuse that had to do with long lines or money draining scams, but despite his understanding of her arguments, Izaya had always wanted to attend events such as this. Admittedly, it wasn't the desire he had to go on the rides that made him want to go, but rather the longing to examine others who went on the rides. That was what drove him to the carnivals, even if the closest he has ever gotten to one was outside the gates. He just couldn't put the interest he had for anthropology aside. Like the passion Orpheous felt for Eurydice, his love for the study of human behaviour was by far too tempting. And who knew, maybe he'd even see Shizuo there... He did mention the carnival in his letter, after all.

The school was mostly empty at this point of day... Mostly. The staff who hadn't already left were packing their bags, all except Shizuo's teacher, who presently stood in front of him and his queer friend with glasses, holding a mixing bowl and several other cooking apparatuses. She placed the objects she held gently on the counter of the school kitchen and proceeded to procure various ingredients from the school cabinets along with a worn out cookbook. She skimmed through it until she stumbled upon the appropriate page and dropped the book onto the counter top with a wham. Shinra flinched.

"Alright boys," she rolled up her sleeves. "Let's bake this cake!"

"Oooh, that rhymes!" Shinra exclaimed, once again succeeding at pointing out the useless.

"Indeed it did. Now, Shizuo, you can poor three cups of flour into the bowl, and you can add a teaspoon or two of baking powder into the mix, Shinra."

The boys nodded and began their tasks, Shinra carefully measuring the amount of baking powder he put in, taking off the excess powder on top with a knife, and Shizuo caring more or less about whether or not his measurements were accurate.

"See Shizuo, this isn't so bad!" Shinra chimed as he put in the baking powder.

Shizuo mumbled a response under his breath.

"Eh? What was that, Shizuo?" Glasses asked, reaching for the sugar.

"I said I'm missing my favourite show," the brunet practically grunted, dropping the final cup of flower statically into he bowl.

"But I thought you liked cake!" Shinra said happily, now on his way to put the butter in the microwave.

"I don't get to eat this cake, Shinra!" Shizuo snapped as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, because at that very moment, to him it was.

"Ohyeah..." the younger child murmured, setting the timer for two minutes.

Shizuo rolled his eyes and grabbed a mixer.

Their teacher smiled at their independence. "Alright boys, what colour icing do you want? I think we have some dies in the science lab."

"Green!"

"Green."

They blurted out in unison.

"Green it is," their teacher declared chuckling. "You two keep up the good work, I'll be right back" she said smiling and walked into the hallway.

Shinra twirled around the kitchen, giggling.

"What did you hit your head on?" Shizuo said sarcastically.

"Oh, nothing, it's just... It's kinda fun to be alone in the school!"

"Well be careful or you'll break something and then I'll get blamed for it!" Shizuo warned, raising his voice a little.

The microwave beeped, and Shinra scurried over to open it. "I am being perfectly carefuu- Ouch! Hot!" he exclaimed, dropping the bowl of scolding butter, which promptly shattered all over the kitchen floor.

"..."

"…"

"Shinraaaaaaaaaaaaa," Shizuo began to growl.

"Don't get mad at me! It was hot, Shizuo!" Shinra shrieked, whining.

"It's your fault for putting it in too long!" The older boy argued.

"Well I didn't know!"

"Now we're going to get in trouble again!"

"Now what exactly would you two get in trouble for?" Their teacher asked as she walked in with a vial of green food colouring in her hand.

"N-nothing, nothing at all!" Shinra exclaimed, attempting hide the shattered glass from his superior's view by standing in front of it.

Shizuo didn't say anything, deciding instead to turn his back to the other two people in the room and resume his stirring.

"Are you sure about that?" Their sensei asked, walking up to Shinra. "What are you hiding behind your back, mister?"

"Nothing, don't look!" Shinra wailed as he was pushed out of the way against his will. The eldest took a step forward, searching for what the child with glasses was hiding; not knowing it was at her very feet. Unfortunately, she discovered the mess too late, when she slipped on the butter and fell suddenly onto the broken pieces of glass. Shinra gasped and when Shizuo turned around, his face turned pale.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, are you okay? I didn't mean to!" Shinra frantically asked.

The injured woman took a shaky breath and got to her feet, clenching the fist of her left arm arm, which she had used to block most of her fall and was now covered in blood.

"I'm fine, Shinra," she assured the child in the calmest voice possible, before looking at the glass stuck in her arm and groaning. "Can you go get the tweezers it the science lab for me?"

Shinra swiftly nodded and ran down the hallway, leaving Shizuo alone with their teacher.

The guilt Shizuo felt made his chest heavy. He knew that he didn't drop the butter, but if he had told her then maybe this wouldn't have happened. The blood trickling down her arm only made him feel worse, filling him with crushing remorse.

The room was silent, until Shizuo muttered a barely audible apology.

"What was that, Shizuo..?" The young woman asked softly.

"I said I'm sorry…" Shizuo said quietly, because he felt like if he said it any louder the tears would start to drop down his cheeks.

"You don't need to be sorry, Shizuo. This wasn't your fault. It wasn't anybody's fault. It was an accident."

"But if I had told you, you wouldn't have gotten hurt…" Shizuo choked out, clenching his teeth as plump tears fell from his tiny mocha eyes.

"Hey, don't cry…" She coed, placing her hand on his cheek and tenderly wiping his tears away with her thumb. "This is in no way your fault, Shizuo. Don't stress yourself over this, I'm fine." She said, smiling lightly.

Shizuo started crying. "But it is my fault! I could h-have stopped this! I always hurt people! T-that's all I'm g-good at!" he hiccupped, wiping at his eyes. "I d-didn't even touch you a-and I h-hurt you, I-I-"

"Shhhhhh," she hushed, pulling him into a loving hug. "Shizuo, you don't only hurt people. You're just misunderstood, but your time will come… I promise you it won't be like this forever."

Shizuo sniffed, and nodded into her chest, taking her words to heart.

* * *

**Review please~ :"3 Because like, then I'll love you forever and stuff. **

**I'm sorry this chapter is short, I just wrote it today, I hope you don't mind ˆ ˆ **

**I'll try to write longer ones from now on.**


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